News release from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee:
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee today launched a new paid and grassroots campaign to hold Representative Scott DesJarlais (TN-04) accountable for forcing the Super Committee to fail by demanding more tax breaks for billionaires while insisting the Medicare guarantee be eliminated. The campaign includes robo calls, live phone calls, online advertising and an online action center where voters can write letters to the editor about House Republicans’ priorities. The calls begin in DesJarlais’s district today.
Representative DesJarlais signed conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform pledge to protect tax breaks for the ultra wealthy at the expense of the middle class and seniors.
The script of the automated phone call ad to be run in Representative Scott DesJarlais’s district follows:
Hi, this is Mandy Sue calling on behalf of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee calling about Congressman Scott DesJarlais and Republicans forcing the Super Committee to fail.
Americans demanded a bipartisan, big, bold, and balanced plan to reduce the deficit and grow our economy – but that’s not what we got. The Super Committee failed because Republicans insisted on extending the Bush tax breaks for millionaires and refusing to include a jobs proposal – while ending the Medicare guarantee! That’s something that Democrats stand strongly against.
By rejecting a balanced approach, Republicans chose to protect the wealthiest one percent at the expense of seniors and the middle class. Now they’re even talking about raising the payroll tax.
Please call Congressman DesJarlais at 931-381-9920 and tell him it’s time to focus on us.
UPDATE from Action Andy:
DesJarlais spokesman Robert Jameson took issue with Democrats seeking to link the congressman to the supercommittee. He said DesJarlais voted against the Budget Control Act that set up the panel and the congressman believes cuts should have been debated by the entire House and not 12 people behind closed doors.
The bipartisan supercommittee was charged with cutting more than $1 trillion but deadlocked, with Republicans supporting only spending cuts and Democrats backing both cuts and tax increases.
The Democrats’ news release said they intend to hold DesJarlais “accountable for forcing the debt supercommittee to fail by demanding more tax breaks for billionaires while insisting the Medicare guarantee be eliminated.”
Jameson said DesJarlais voted for Republicans’ budget proposal that “closed loopholes for giant corporations while lowering overall tax rates so everybody pays their fair share.”
As for charges that DesJarlais opposes Democratic efforts to raise taxes on the wealthiest, Jameson said “the congressman doesn’t believe we need to raise taxes on anybody right now.”
Democratic Party officials won’t say how much they are spending on this week’s effort.
